African Entrepreneurship Record

South Atlantic route, African segment.

The small Hans, having just passed the coast of southern Angola, follows the Benguela Current into the northern Angolan colonial waters controlled by the Portuguese.

The name of the ship indicates its former affiliation, it must have been a German ship. Of course, that’s in the past. Now, the small Hans is a wooden sailing merchant ship registered under the Haiti Republic, which is the official identity of the ship.

”Report, Captain, there’s a British warship ahead!”

”Don’t panic. First, check our crew and see if there’s anything overlooked. Maybe the British warship is just passing through.”

Saying this, Captain Othello still made the worst plan in mind. This route rarely sees British enforcement warships.

Soon, the British ship on the opposite side signaled for the small Hans to dock and submit to inspection.

”Captain, what now?”

”Submit to inspection!” Othello ordered.

There’s no escaping, and fighting isn’t an option. This slave ship disguised as an armed merchant ship is no match for an ironclad ship.

Currently, ships used by East Africa to transport slaves are relatively outdated wooden sailing merchant ships. Many are second-hand ships bought from around the world by East Africa.

The slave trade entails enormous risks, especially under the joint crackdown by the international community. Therefore, East Africa, as a slave-exporting country, must keep a low profile. However, generally, East Africa has not encountered any specific targets in the South Atlantic waters, but today seems to be a problem.

Soon, the British warship closed in on the Haitian merchant ship. In front of the British warship, this Haitian merchant ship seemed tiny, which is a drawback of wooden sailing ships; they’re hard to compete in size with these steel giants.

British sailors quickly rigged a gangway and then transferred to the small Hans.

”Who is the captain of this ship?” A Royal Navy sailor asked.

Othello stepped forward, saying, ”I am the captain of this ship, Othello.”

”Othello?” The Royal Navy sailor scrutinized this Black captain, asking peculiarly, ”You’re Black?”

”Yes, I am Haitian.” Othello replied with an ingratiating smile, not daring to show any abnormality, his jet-black face revealing a set of bright white teeth, dazzling against the backdrop of the blue sea and sky.

”Haitian? Why is your ship called the small Hans?”

”This ship was purchased from East Africa, so we didn’t change the name, but the crew and I are genuine Haitians.” Othello replied.

”That’s quite rare!” The Royal Navy sailor said.

A Black captain on the ocean is indeed uncommon, perhaps more prevalent in countries like America. In Africa, where Blacks are numerous, few engage in oceanic trade.

In the past, Somalis, Swahili people, and some Black nations along the Red Sea coast were quite adept at maritime trade, but these nations have long been dismantled or colonized by Western colonizers led by East Africa.

Othello said, ”Of course, Haiti is an island nation. Our primary trade relies on shipping, so we’ve purchased many ships from the civilized world to develop our shipping.”

In reality, these cheap merchant ships were given to the Haitians by East Africa. After all, the slave trade isn’t easy, and East Africans didn’t want to get directly involved. Sending Black Haitians to sell Black slaves seemed much more ”harmonious.”

Moreover, Haiti is currently the largest ”labor” exporting country in the Americas, making this even more reasonable. This is a development direction for the East African slave trade in recent years.

Othello is a Haitian trader working with East Africa. East Africa provides the ships, and Othello gets the ”goods” from East Africa. This way, Othello can acquire an ocean-going ship at a very low cost, even if it’s an obsolete wooden sailing merchant ship. For Haitians, this is a massive fortune.

Meanwhile, they can also get ”goods” and ”labor” for free. In this situation, it’s like East Africa giving Haitians three sets of money.

The ship is provided by East Africa, the goods are actually the transportation fee paid by East Africa, and the laborers are the retired slaves after their service time in East Africa.

Haitians only need to provide manpower and effort to obtain this wealth. Furthermore, Haitians can continue reselling the slaves and goods to gain considerable profit.

Due to East Africa’s ”billion-dollar subsidy,” Haitians have naturally led affluent lives, with no turning back on the road of slave-based economy.

The Royal Navy sailor wasn’t interested in these because Haiti was once a French colony and has since gained independence. So, he wasn’t bothered about how they got these second-hand ships.

What interested him more was whether this ship was a slave ship, as per the instructions from above. Therefore, it was crucial to ensure nothing was amiss.

”We now need to inspect your merchant ship, including personnel and cargo, to ensure they comply with international regulations. Captain Othello, you won’t obstruct this, will you?”

Othello’s expression was grim, though it was not visible due to his dark complexion. Nonetheless, he dared not retort, saying, ”Please go ahead! But we are legitimate traders who never engage in illegal business.”

The British didn’t believe what Othello said. In the 19th-century seas, there weren’t many clean businesses.

Soon, under the British sailor’s escort, Othello’s crew carefully observed every part of the ship.

”Captain Othello, why are there so many sailors on your ship? You’re clearly overstaffed. A few dozen sailors should be sufficient. There seem to be nearly a hundred on board.”

”Sir, while we’ve hired quite a few people for our ship, they all hold our Haitian nationality as Africans. We have many labor companies in America that need a lot of manpower, so these are lawful workers.”

What Othello said seemed reasonably proper. At least from their attire, these people didn’t seem like slaves.

These clothes were distributed by East Africa. After all, Eastern Africa’s slaves contributed their youth, if they weren’t even given a suit of clothes, then the East Africans would be ”beasts.”

”And your cargo is also problematic. Normal merchant ships wouldn’t have such little cargo. Aren’t you losing money on this trip?”

Othello: ”Sir, that’s because you’re not familiar with our situation in Haiti. We are notoriously poor, with a small land area and scarce resources. Therefore, there’s not much to trade internationally, so having a small cargo volume is quite normal. Additionally, as you said earlier, the most important thing on this ship is these new Haitian ’citizens,’ they are our wealth.”

”So, slaves?”

Othello dared not respond directly, instead stating righteously, ”These are citizens who legally obtained our Haitian citizenship, with identity information issued by our Haitian embassy. Sir, you wouldn’t harm us, would you?”

Under the skeptical gaze of the British sailors, Othello had these people produce the identification ”proof” issued by the East African Haitian embassy.

The entire inspection passed thrillingly, and the British warship had to let this ”normal trading ship” go.

This shows the cunning of the East Africans, as the risk of the slave trade increases, the slave traders have to evolve along with the times.

Now, East Africa doesn’t even send people. They disguise the slave trade as normal ”immigration” and ”employment,” presenting internationally as foolproof.

Of course, the root reason for realizing this ”advanced” method of slave trading lies in East Africa’s enormous expenditure, which isn’t primarily profit-driven, even requiring additional funding to sustain.